Allada

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Allada
Roi d'Allada-1900.jpg
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Allada
Location in Benin
Coordinates: 6°39′N2°09′E / 6.650°N 2.150°E / 6.650; 2.150
Country Flag of Benin.svg  Benin
Department Atlantique Department
Area
  Total381 km2 (147 sq mi)
Population
 (2013)
  Total127,512
Website http://www.web-africa.org/allada/

Allada [a.la.da] is a town, arrondissement, and commune, located in the Atlantique Department of Benin.

Contents

The current town of Allada corresponds to Great Ardra (also called Grand Ardra, or Arda), which was the capital of a Fon kingdom also called Allada (the kingdom of Ardra or kingdom of Allada), which existed as a sovereign kingdom from around the 13th or 14th century (date of the initial settlements by Aja people, reorganized as a kingdom c. 1600) until 1724, when it fell to the armies of neighbour Kingdom of Dahomey. The present-day commune of Allada covers an area of 381 square kilometres and as of 2013 had a population of 127,512 people. [1]

History

In the mid-sixteenth century, Allada (then called Grand Ardra, or Arda) had a population of about 30,000 people. [2]

The original inhabitants of Ardra were ethnic Aja. [3] According to oral tradition, the Aja migrated to southern Benin around the 12th or 13th century, coming from Tado, on the Mono River in modern Togo. They established themselves in the area that currently corresponds to southern Benin, until c. 1600, when three brothers – Kokpon, Do-Aklin, and Te-Agdanlin – split the rule of the region amongst themselves: Kokpon took the capital city of Great Ardra, reigning over the Allada kingdom, while his brother Do-Aklin founded Abomey (which would become capital of the Kingdom of Dahomey) and their brother Te-Agdanlin founded Little Ardra, also known as Ajatche(Little Adja), later called Porto Novo (literally, "New Port") by Portuguese traders (which is the current capital city of Benin).

Notable citizens and residents

The Haitian revolutionary Toussaint L'Ouverture, who was the grandson of the Allada prince Gaou Guinou, was the founding father of the Republic of Haiti. [4] There is a statue of L'Ouverture in the north of the town. [5]

Demographics

The main town demographics:

YearPopulation [6]
197912 022
2008 (estimate)21 833

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Do-Aklin</span> 17th-century founder of the ruling dynasty of Dahomey

Do-Aklin or Gangnihessou or Dogbari is claimed as the founder of the Fon Kingdom of Dahomey in present-day Benin and the first person in the royal lineage of the Kings of Dahomey. In many versions he is considered the first king of Dahomey even though the kingdom was founded after his death. Very little is known about Do-Aklin and most of it is connected to folklore, but it is generally claimed that he settled a large group of Aja people from Allada on the Abomey plateau amongst the local inhabitants in c. 1620. His son Dakodonu would eventually build a palace on the plateau and began forming the Kingdom of Dahomey.

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The History of the Kingdom of Dahomey spans 400 years from around 1600 until 1904 with the rise of the Kingdom of Dahomey as a major power on the Atlantic coast of modern-day Benin until French conquest. The kingdom became a major regional power in the 1720s when it conquered the coastal kingdoms of Allada and Whydah. With control over these key coastal cities, Dahomey became a major center in the Atlantic Slave Trade until 1852 when the British imposed a naval blockade to stop the trade. War with the French began in 1892 and the French took over the Kingdom of Dahomey in 1894. The throne was vacated by the French in 1900, but the royal families and key administrative positions of the administration continued to have a large impact in the politics of the French administration and the post-independence Republic of Dahomey, renamed Benin in 1975. Historiography of the kingdom has had a significant impact on work far beyond African history and the history of the kingdom forms the backdrop for a number of novels and plays.

The Kingdom of Ardra, also known as the Kingdom of Allada, was a coastal West African kingdom in southern Benin. While historically a sovereign kingdom, in present times the monarchy continues to exist as a non-sovereign monarchy within the republic of Benin.

Gaou Guinou was an African prince who has been claimed to be the grandfather of famed Haitian revolutionary Toussaint L’Ouverture. He may have been in the royal family of Allada as well as a member of the Fon people. He was reportedly captured and enslaved by his brother, Hussar, and his wife, Queen Aitta in 1724. According to the autobiography of L’Ouverture, Gaou Guinou was born around the year 1698 and lived to be over 105 years old.

References

  1. "Communes of Benin". Statoids. Archived from the original on 2 January 2010. Retrieved January 5, 2010.
  2. Monroe, Cameron. "Urbanism on West Africa's Slave Coast". American Scientist. Archived from the original on 13 January 2014. Retrieved 24 September 2014.
  3. Asiwaju, A. I. (1979). "The Aja-Speaking Peoples of Nigeria: A Note on Their Origins, Settlement and Cultural Adaptation up to 1945". Africa: Journal of the International African Institute. 49 (1): 15–28. doi:10.2307/1159502. ISSN   0001-9720. JSTOR   1159502. S2CID   145468899.
  4. Beard, John R. (1863). Toussaint L'Ouverture: A Biography and Autobiography. Boston: James Redpath. p. 35. Retrieved 18 January 2015.
  5. Butler, Stuart (2019) Bradt Travel Guide - Benin, pgs. 100
  6. "Allada". World Gazetteer. Archived from the original on 2013-02-09. Retrieved 2008-12-19.

Further reading

6°39′N2°09′E / 6.650°N 2.150°E / 6.650; 2.150